Criminal Justice - Police: Police Term Paper

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Gerber (2001) studied 75 precincts of New York City and 154 police teams to determine whether male and female police officers appeared to have different personality traits because male officers typically have a higher status than do women in American society; this investigation made it clear that the personalities individuals adopt are fluid, and that the status model of police personalities suggests that officers' perceptions of their personality traits vary with their status. "The critical test of the model involves individual status," she says, "the status of each officer vis-a-vis the partner" (p. 39). While everyone is probably familiar with the "good cop-bad cop" interrogation techniques used in motion pictures and television productions, this dichotomy of personalities is actually a standard characteristic of police personalities, although perhaps not to this degree or purpose (Gerber, 2001).

Based on the status model of personality, there is a distinct "pecking order" in place in virtually all police departments across the country that helps initiate newcomers to the profession into the field; new recruits to the force will ignore this hierarchy at their peril. According to Gerber, the high-status officer in each partnership type will be perceived as having more instrumentally oriented (dominating and instrumental) traits and the low-status officer will be viewed as having more expressive traits. In addition, the status model predicts that officers' perceptions of their personality traits will be affected by group status -- the overall status of their partnership in relation to other kinds of partnerships (Gerber, 2001).

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In her review of Gerber's analysis, Monago (2003) suggests that this study showed that sex category and work experience played instrumental roles in personality adjustments. "For instance," Monago says, "her [Gerber's] data revealed that years of work experience or seniority was the most salient factor for the establishment of the senior and most instrumental police officer on same-sex police teams"; however, sex category represented the most salient category on male-female police teams as well as for outside observers, such as a police supervisor (2003, p. 195).

Conclusion

The research showed that men and women become police officers for many of the same reasons that people seek a career in any other helping profession: job security, decent wages and benefits, as well as a clear career path. There are also some other compelling reasons involved in this decision that are as varied as the individual themselves, but the salient findings that emerged from the research suggest that most police officers in the United States today share the traits of desiring to help to others, a desire for the respect and dignity associated with the profession, and a fundamental desire to contribute to their communities......

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